Bicycle rider killed by Tri-Rail train in Deerfield Beach

Traffic backed up for about two hours

The Broward Sheriffs Office is investigating the death Thursday of a man… (BSO Mike Jachles, courtesy )

April 12, 2012|By Linda Trischitta and Wayne K. Roustan, Sun Sentinel

DEERFIELD BEACH — The Broward Sheriff's Office is investigating the death Thursday of a man with a bicycle who was hit by a Tri-Rail train near West Sample Road in Deerfield Beach.

Around 1 p.m., the unidentified man, thought to be in his 50s, was walking the bike southbound along the tracks when struck from behind by a southbound commuter train destined for Hialeah and Miami International Airport, a Tri-Rail spokeswoman said.

The Tri-Rail train, No. T-625, had between 130 and 140 passengers who were bused to stations in Cypress Creek to continue south, and to Deerfield Beach and Pompano Beach to continue north, South Florida Regional Transportation Authority spokeswoman Bonnie Arnold said.

The Tri-Rail train had just passed Northwest 48th Street when the engineer spotted the man and sounded the horn but the pedestrian failed to move from the path of the train that was traveling at about 65 miles per hour. The train came to a stop just north of Sample Road after striking the man, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.

Traffic was snarled for about two hours, as the crossing at Sample Road was closed due to the train's position just several feet from the roadway. There were no other injuries, sheriff's spokesman Mike Jachles said.

The Broward County Medical Examiner's Office will conduct an autopsy on the victim and try to determine his identity, Jachles said.